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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 2004)
TO THE EDITOR I ask you this: Do his actions jibe with his pious words? Do you really think that Jesus, whom he professes to follow, would sign someone’s death warrant and then mock her, as he did as governor of Texas? Well, this is what I have to say to all you fundamentalist dunderheads. You are cut from the same mold as fundamentalist Moslems and fundamentalist Jews. You all worship at the same altar, invoking the god of vengeance and retribution, whether nam- ing him Jehovah, Yahweh or Allah and you create hell on earth wherever you go. If you profess to be a Christian, then for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of the rest of the world, follow the words and examples of Jesus .... or go to hell. David Bersch Eugene AMERICAN GULLIBAN The “rupture” has occurred. The Republican neocons have been lifted up on the backs of the fundamentalist American Gullaban. In the Naked Emperor’s mind, he sits on the right hand side of God, poised to deconstruct what’s left of the separation be- tween church and state, the public school sys- tem, a woman’s right to choose, protection against hate crimes, illegal search and entry, false imprisonment, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Don’t the gullible ever stop their reflexive genuflecting long enough to wonder where Jesus is in this new religion? When Jesus said, “Suffer the little children” he wasn’t is- suing orders to fire missiles into their cities, to wound, maim, and kill them. The neo-reli- gionists, these faux followers of Jesus are ig- noring “the logs in their own eyes” all the while they are intent on gouging “the splin- ters out of their neighbors.” The moneychangers and their political hit men have set up residence in the evangelical community of churches. They are the “force ministers” and the “kingdom now” castes of priest/warriors. Make no mistake. The Rupture has ar- rived, and woe to the environment and to those who have trusted and believed in their inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness under the Constitution of the United States of America. Morgan Songi Eugene BODY POLITIC Four moron years. Good thing military undertakers can use DNA tests to ID ribbons of flesh returned from Iraq. Greg Hume Creswell DEFINING MARRIAGE Your grandparents may not have been “legally” married — or great-grandparents. Tracing our lineage even further back lends a certain irony, if not humor to the current righteous quagmire regarding definition of family and marriage. In the brief human occupation of this great land, many cultures brought with them rituals of family bonding recognition to encourage and sustain community support. The book Weddings by Design by Richard Leviter has entertainingly researched some of these. Not very long ago, a private covenant was silently sealed by adding one’s names to the family lineage on a ledger — or by the sound of a shotgun fired by a circuit rider in the outback (of Australia). Even more recently, the state mimicked the authority of the church in providing a covenant ledger of those not on ecclesiastical rolls. Although it is small revenue, the state gains in providing the civil service of mar- riage registration, it bears more legal author- ity than the church in doing so; it is simply that, a record of marriage registration. I respectfully offer this comment without value judgement to encourage further discus- sion and research. Lea Allen Eugene BACKUP NEEDED I work in the field of software design. Everybody who has used a computer knows the term “computer error.” There is no infallible software system. It cannot and does not exist in the world of the electronic voting machines. To have designed such a system without a paper trail is unconscionable. We need to trust the ac- curacy and fairness of our electoral system. That is only possible with a secondary control. Every businessperson and accountant knows this. Now we must assess the accuracy of the 2004 vote count. Every vote is sacred. The media should give this the coverage it deserves. Kathy Thomas Eugene DECEMBER 2, 2004 7
